Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel defended plans to mandate 2024 GOP contenders sign a pledge to back the party nominee.
Multiple Republicans, such as former President Donald Trump and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, have rebuked the requirement, which would require candidates to take the pledge to enter GOP debates, but McDaniel countered that the move is a “no-brainer” and called for party unity.
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“It was part of 2016. I think it’s kind of a no-brainer, right,” McDaniel told CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. “If you’re going to be on the Republican National Committee debate stage, asking voters to support you, you should say I’m going to support the voters and who they choose as the nominee.”
“I think they’re all gonna sign it. I really do. I think the voters … do not want to see a debate stage of people saying I’m not going to support this guy. I’m not going to support this guy.’ What they need to say is, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to defeat Joe Biden.’ And that’s mean supporting the nominee of the Republican Party,” McDaniel added.
Trump has voiced consternation about the pledge publicly, echoing his gripes with a similar one back in the 2016 election cycle.
Hutchinson has raised similar concerns, arguing that backing Trump in 2024 could flout his principles, but McDaniel countered that she doesn’t “see it that way” and argued the Republicans would merely be following the will of the voters.
She surmised that Republican infighting cost the party dearly in the 2022 midterm elections and urged Republicans to display a unified front after the hotly contested presidential primary race concludes.
McDaniel recently won reelection after a contested battle for RNC chief. Trump stayed neutral in the race, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a top-tier speculated 2024 hopeful, had kind words for her chief opponent, conservative attorney Harmeet Dhillon. McDaniel downplayed the rift.
“Ron and I have a good relationship, and we’re going to work well together. Everybody’s going to work well together towards 2024,” she said. “The one thing Republicans can do to make sure we don’t win is fight each other all the time.”
McDaniel stressed that the GOP will accept the results of the 2024 elections.
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“I expect that they will accept the results in 2024. I don’t know who that person is right now. But yes, we’re going to accept the results. And we’re going to move forward and work to govern this country,” she said.
McDaniel also emphasized that “Medicare and Social Security are off the table” for Republicans while criticizing Democratic claims that the GOP aims to cut those programs. Some Republicans, such as former Vice President Mike Pence, have argued that the party should evaluate those programs amid their projected trajectory toward insolvency.
